Every Silent Scream We Make
by My Echoing Silence
Summary: After five hundred years of life, Sasuke, in a moment of regret just before his overdue death, sends Naruto and Gaara back. Naruto, unable to deal with everything all over again, secludes himself until the time when it all came crashing down on him. SLASH
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own nothing recognised as belonging to someone else._

_This story was influenced by the final fight scene between Cload and Sephiroth in FF7: Advent Children, and I Hate Everything About You by Three Days Grace, buth of which I was listening to, watching, during its writing._

The black clad ninja grunted and spun a kick at his opponent in retaliation to the blow to the ribs he had suffered

The black clad ninja grunted and spun a kick at his opponent in retaliation to the blow to the ribs he had suffered.

Bouncing back a few metres, he shifted his stance from the Gouken to the Lotus style. His chakra was just as pulsing and unlimited as always, but his body was beginning to buckle under the strain of so much physical damage and too much chakra being channelled through the already stressed coils.

He had already been exhausted from a fight with a higher level devil when his current opponent had decided to turn up.

The attacker twisted and landed on a piece of building debris in a graceful swirl of white cloth and long dark tresses.

"Good to see you," The enemy smirked, "Naruto."

The blond snarled and shot forward, summoning forth two long katana.

The man's smirk grew as he himself brought forth Kurasanagi to parry the blonde's blows.

The two strained against one another for a few moments before both jumped back in perfect sync.

"Sasuke. What do you want?"

The Uchiha swayed his head in movements like a snake scenting the air. "What I want, Naruto, is to live eternally without you always at my back, vying to destroy me." The man tossed his hair in the wind from the storm circling overhead. "And then I will enslave this planet. I will take all it has to give, and then I will move on to another dimension and start over."

Naruto's eyes sparked blue fire. "And what about this dimension?"

The raven quirked an amused smile. "Well. That's up to you, Dobe."

The two surged at one another in a flurry of flashing steel and falling rubble.

Sasuke let out a purring laugh when one of his enemy's blows sent him flying into one of the (previously) still standing buildings.

"Oh?" He purred at the man, eyes half-lidded in pleasure. "Where did that come from?"

Naruto hissed and sent a _Kaze no Yaiba_ flying the raven's way.

Predictably, Sasuke dodged it with little trouble and raced back into combat.

All round them, the ruins of Konoha, old and degraded after centuries of emptiness, were being reduced to dust and rubble.

"Oh, Naruto," Sasuke crooned to his once friend as their blades clashed. "I've just thought of a wonderful gift for you."

Naruto spun away from the poisoned blade and lashed out with the blade that sprung from the tip of his left boot.

The Uchiha giggled as he danced away, his sleeve in ribbons. "Shall I give you despair?" This was followed through with a jump-kick that drove the air from the Kyuubi-vessel's lungs.

"On your knees, Dobe. I want you to beg for mercy."

Sasuke flashed through one-handed Seals, sending a _Katon, Karyuu Endan_ at the blonde, who barely countered with _Doton, Doryuudan. _But what Naruto hadn't counted on was Sasuke using the fire dragon as a cloak as he came through the dust and caught the blonde by surprise, inflicting a long slash from left shoulder to right hip.

"So what do you treasure most in this world now Konoha is gone?" The darker man inquired in a mock-innocent tone as he leapt back for a propper view of Naruto's blood draining onto the crumpled pavement. "Please give me the pleasure of taking it away."

The blonde's mind flashed to the only person he allowed himself to truly care about now. Long red hair cascaded in fly-away curls down the back clad in tan desert robes.

His eyes went cold as he regarded his once-friend. "How sad. You don't understand anymore."

Red Sharingan eyes blinked before lips curled cruelly. "Hmpf."

Clashing again, Naruto gave ground to get ground.

Shifting slightly to leave his right side slightly open, allowing Sasuke to land a deep slash into his right ribcage, he used the oportunity to bring his left sword around to bury it into the vicinity of the raven's heart.

They were still for a moment, staring into one another's eyes, sad blue meeting startled black.

It was Naruto who moved, laying a soft, chaste kiss on his once-lover's grey lips.

"Stay where you belong." He murmured against pale lips. "In my memories."

Sasuke stared a moment more, the man he once was flickering in them, coming to a decision. He managed to raise a hand to cup his beautiful fox's cheek.

"I will…" He whispered, blood flooding down his chin. "Never be just a memory…"

"Naruto!"

The blonde reacted too slowly to the shout. Sasuke gathered all his remaining chakra and activated his Sharingan, lips moving.

Someone grabbed his right wrist just as everything when white.

The last things he saw were Sasuke's, his Sasuke's, mournful dark eyes and a pale face surrounded by flying red curls with tanuki-masked green eyes.

**(space)**

A hand was resting cooly on his heated forehead.

"…Sakura?"

The voice was soft but familiar, even though the woman he loved as a sister had been dead and dust for centuries.

"Just hold on a little longer. You're almost there."

Naruto almost whimpered, shaking his head slightly with his eyes still closed to the bright light.

"I don't want to be alone again."

He felt her smile. "Don't worry, my dear otouto. Gaara is still with you. He came at the last moment." She stroked his hair one last time. "You two be good now."

**(space)**

Naruto woke curved into the crook of someone's shoulder.

They were moving fast though a crowded area.

Naruto frowned.

That couldn't be right. Humans were all but extinct, therefore, logically, there could not be crowds of them.

Moving slightly, he heard a whimper slip from his lips when agony raced through his body.

And elderly voice swore from within the body he was curled against and the pace was picked up.

Once the pain started, it started rising in a steady ache that turned into a burning, then into the creeping feeling of corrosive acid eating through his body.

He wasn't evern aware of when he was lain down on a bed, so focused was he on trying not to scream.

He lost.

Shrill shrieks of agony tore from his throat as his body convulsed in a macabre dance of suffering. People were shouting and hands were holding him down.

The agony finally hit the point where it could reach no further level, and Naruto was permitted to fall back into oblivion.

**(space)**

When Naruto woke again, the pain was still there, but held in check by something he recognised as healing chakra from a human.

From somewhere to his right was a soft voice humming to themselves as they moved around the room, heels -_tap-tap-tap- _on a hard floor. There was a steady beeping somewhere to the right and what sounded like an air pump.

A cool breeze flowed across his face from the left, bringing the scent of flowers he had memorized out of bordom long ago–Alymumfor virtue and wordiness, Apple Blossom for beauty and goodness, Aster for afterthoughts, Balm for fun, Lesser Bindweed for humility, Bee-orchis for misunderstanding, Bramble for remorse, Corriander for hidden worth, Feverfew for protection, Blue Flax for gratitude, Frangipenny for shelter, Blue Hycinth for devotion, Peony for contrition, Pink Phlox for friendship, Rosemary for rememberance- and pipe tabacoo smoke.

Beneath him was a bed and sheets and a blanket covered him from mid-chest down, his wrists bound beside his body. He could feel many bandages around his body and places that had been sewn together. What felt like an IV was in his right arm and there was a strip of tape on his face holding the tubes leading down his throat in place at the corner of his mouth.

The blonde man tried to open his eyes, only to realise that, not only were his eyes incredibly painful even to move, but there was a bandage wrapped tightly over them and the rest of his face from mid-cheek up.

Naruto flexed his fingers and toes to make sure they were still working and turned his head slightly.

He gasped when pain shot through his head, neck and back, then moaned when the muscles in his back started spasming.

The humming to his right stopped and the person came over. A hand rested on his forehead, stroking his hair and filling his nose with the scent of what he thought might have been a perfume that mimiced Lily-Of-The-Valley.

"Go back to sleep, little one." The woman told him in a voice he didn't know, but was strongly similar to Naminé's. "When you wake again, the pain will be less."

Naruto made an agreeing noise in his raw throat and began his trying-to-sleep exercise; visualising a purple cloud spiralling into darkness.

Meanwhile, the woman sung a soft lullaby Hinata had sung to him once, long ago, after her eyes had been torn out by a lucky shuriken.

"Hush-a-Bye/ Don't You Cry/ Go To Sleep My Little Baby/ When You Wake You Shall Have/ All The Pretty Little Ponies./ In Your Bed/ Mamma Said/ Babies Riding Off To Dream Land/ One By One/ They've Begun/ Dance And Prance For Little Baby…"

(**space)**

When Naruto woke again, the pain was, indeed, less, and the bandages were gone from across his eyes.

His nose twitched at the scent of fresh tabacco smoke and the straps were no longer holding his arms and ankles down.

Flickering his eyes open, Naruto found himself staring up at a clean white ceiling, a rarity in this time and age. A bright splash of colour called his attention to his left. Turning his head, he found a riot of flowers and get-well cards.

It took him nearly a minute to place the lined face of the old man smoking the pipe beside the bed, clad in robes he felt he should remember.

His eyes widened and tears welled. "…Jiji?"

The word would have been a whisper even if he had been able to speak above a husky murmur or croak. He struggled to rise, reaching for the surprised old man, tears trickling down his cheeks.

Moments later, the Sandaime Hokage was seated on the edge of the hospital bed with the boy crying into his shoulder and clutching at his robes.

After a time, Naruto stilled in the old man's lap, letting the logic of the situation roll over him.

Sarutobi had died before Naruto had even reach adulthood, therefore, logically, he could not be here. But, on the other hand, he shouldn't have been able to fit into an old man's lap either.

Turning his head as if to get more comfortable, his breathing went from ragged hiccups to a calmer, normal breathing. With his new vantage point, he was able to see his hand as it was clutched into the red and white material of Sarutobi's robes.

The hand was small, nearly a third of the size of his adult hand, and the nails were chewed down to the flesh as opposed to the neat, sharp red-varnished nails he was used to seeing.

Thinking back, he remembered his fight with Sasuke and the mumbling of his pale lips at the end, just as he released pent-up chakra and Gaara arrived.

If Sasuke had really sent him, and possibly Gaara, into the past, Naruto didn't think he could handle it all again. Even after nearly five hundred years, he had only just accepted that everything he had striven to protect was gone, but he still hadn't been coping.

Naruto wasn't aware of speaking until the words had left his lips and the old ninja tensed against him.

"I can't do this anymore…"

There were a few moments of heavy silence before the Hokage spoke in a level voice. "What do you mean, Naruto?"

Naruto buried his face back into the robes, inhaling the scent of tabbacco, paper and ink that clung to them.

"I just can't." He mumble, his voice muffled by the heavy fabric. "It's too much. I don't wanna be here anymore." Naruto pulled back and gazed up into Sarutobi's dark eyes with a pair of tearful blue ones. "I don't care where you send me, just as long as it's anywhere but here!"

Agony and regret flashed in the old man's dark eyes. "But if you leave, you won't be able to be a ninja or Hokage."

Naruto let out a bark of wild hysterical laughter, tears flowing again. "Ninja? Ninja?! Who do you think did this too me?! And I know I'll never be Hokage so it's a moot point anyway!" It was true. Naruto, despite giving everything to his village and more, was never even considered as a candidate for Hokage. "If I stay here any longer, I'll go _mad_!"

The Kyuubi-vessel's rant was cut short when he choked and buried his face into the old man's robes, overwhelmed with emotional pain.

"Alright." The Hokage murmured into his hair. "I'll see about finding you somewhere so you can leave as soon as you get out of the Hospital."

**(space)**

Naruto stood unobtrusely by the East Gate, waiting for the Hokage to arrive with the person he would be travelling with to his destination, a small hut in a heavily forested region near the Wind-Fire border.

The hut had belonged to his paternal grandfather and was where his father, Namikaze Minato, had grown up until the old man died and he was moved to Konohagakure since he was still a minor at the time.

Speaking of minors, Naruto was only seven at this time and he had been found by the Academy class at the end of the day after he had been sent out earlier for disrupting said class. All the potential ninja had gotten a good look at his mangled and barely alive body, blood pooling on the floor and splattered up the walls, and it had caused mass panic in the children. The Hokage had been called and rushed him to the hospital where, even with the Kyuubi healing his body, he had undergone seven emergency surgeries for broken bones, internal bleeding and facial reconstruction where his eyebrow and cheekbones had been shattered, one of his eyes actually hanging out of the socket, and the propping up of his on-the-verge-of-collapsing chakra coils.

While many of the parents of his classmates hadn't really liked him, most had been horrified by what had been done to him on just the other side of a wall from their children. Naruto suspected their pity mostly stemmed from their children being traumatised at such a young age at the sight of someone they knew being mangled beyond recognition.

In the three months it had taken the blonde to fully recover, many shinobi he barely even recognised had come to see him, had sent him flowers or candy, and nearly the entire class had come to see him with their parents, staring at him like he was some kind of animal on display. He later heard so many children dropped out that it was eventually the smallest class to reach graduation since the founding of the village.

He had had to fight off tears each time one of the original Rookie Nine had come to see him. Ino and Sakura had come with Ino's father, Inoichi, and many flowers. Shikamaru and Choiji had come with Shika, baring food and a portable Shogi set. Shino had arrived on his own with several books on bugs and plants, shyly offering them. Tsume had turned up with both Kiba and her genin daughter, Hana, baring offerings of homemade, barely edible sweets (It was the thought that counted). Hinata had come with a Hyuuga Branch House member, a kunoichi who had given him a truly pitying look, and given him a few novels and snuck him several jutsu scrolls when she thought the Branch member wasn't watching.

What had really confused him emotionally had been when Sasuke had come to visit, his face mostly hidden behind the skirt of someone he thought must have been Uchiha Mikoto, Sasuke's mother. When the woman had first seen him, a look of total horror had passed over her face as she took in his condition.

She had been kind for the entirety of the visit.

Later that night, someone he thought might have been Itachi had come by and left a package amongst the other gifts. When Naruto had opened the package the next day, he had found a multitude of items useful to a ninja in a worn wooden chest, up to and including poisons, caltrops, eggshell granades, fukumi bari, a blowgun and several jutsu scrolls. In a child's scribled in the box lid was written 'PrOppertee Ov UchIha MIkOtO'.

His hair had grown longer during his stay in the hospital, hanging shaggily to his shoulders in spikes, and his face was slightly different because of the facial reconstruction, making the cheekbones higher and the brows more arched, but he was still recognisable enough that he got a few glances in the street.

Standing against a wall with a medium-sized bag at his feet, Naruto's sharp blue eyes surveyed the people coming and going, noticing that, instead of the glares and hateful looks he recalled from his childhood, he was on the receiving end of pitying and ashamed glances.

For the most part.

Naruto merely stared back emptily when a man glared at him as he passed.

It was about 10:30am when Sarutobi eventually turned up with a female anbu with long black hair past her waist. She was carrying a small back-pack of what looked to be mostly scrolls.

"Naruto," Sarutobi smiled sadly, running his hand through sunny blonde hair. "This is Rin-san. She will be your guard, guardian and teacher for the duration of your stay at the hut. Feel free to return anytime you wish."

That said, the Hokage left, but not before Naruto caught sight of the misery in the old man's eyes. He resolved to return before the Genin exam in four years time.

He turned his big blue eyes to his guardian. "Shall we leave?"

Rin-san, in possession of a Horse mask, nodded. "Hai."

* * *

Rin is pretty much Rin from Fruits Basket, in case you were wondering.

Reviews are loved


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing recognised as belonging to someone else._**

**_Fist off, the Rin in this story is modelled off of Sohma Rin from Fruits Basket manga (sadly, she never made it to the anime. bummer). I had honestly forgotten about the Rin on Kakashi's Team until graypheonix brought it up._**

**_Rin's just so...ninja-ish when used as an Uchiha and/or Itachi's significant other (which is not happening in this fic.)._**

**_Why Sasuke was still alive will be explained later._**

**_Hope you enjoy._**

* * *

Rin's real name turned out to be Uchiha Isuzu; Rin chosen for its translation into 'bell', while Isuzu meant 'little bell' when written in kanji. She was eighteen years old when she was designated his guard.

Rin was very beautiful with dark ivory skin, big brown eyes and the most beautiful black hair. Belying her beautiful face, Rin's tongue was sharp and she never hesitated to use it, even on Naruto, though, he noticed, she never used words to defend _herself, _only others.

Her face, while beautiful, had a pinched, bitter quality to it. She was also prone to stomach ulcers when stressed, and tended to neglect her own well-being, causing Naruto to watch out for any sign of weakness in his sensei.

She was, Naruto found, nearly impossible to catch when she got her legs under her, earning her the name 'Rin of the Horse' amongst the ANBU. Her Taijutsu style revolved mostly around kicks and wind-based attacks, and her Ninjutsu were mostly distance wind attacks, support or defence. She held a summoning contract for, surprise, surprise, horses.

While they weren't exactly affectionate, Rin and Naruto had an understanding and cared about each other in a distant, student-teacher sort of way. If he started screaming in the night from painful memories, she woke him up, gave him some warm milk laced with chamomile, and sent him back to bed; if she showed any sign of thinking too deeply, Naruto distracted her and took the sharp words she sent his way.

Naruto seldom trained with her after the first few months at the isolated little shack, after which he wandered off everyday to train what he had learnt in the Future Past.

By the time Naruto was nine, he was as much on Rin's level as a nine-year-old could be and they began to spar regularly.

Rin never asked where he learnt his skills and he never volunteered the information.

**(SPACE)**

It was roughly around his tenth birthday that Naruto spontaneously decided to return to Konoha.

He knew he would mostly be forgotten by the rest of his year mates and the tragedy that befell him would have long since been forgotten by the villagers, not to mention Rin had had no contact with the village and, as such, would have no idea that her clan had been slaughtered less than a month after she left with him, so the two set off, not really in a hurry but not dawdling.

It was late at night when they arrived, by-passing the gates via a small side-entrance the Hokage had told Rin to bring Naruto back through. Naruto's last memory of the small door had been of when the civilians, old, young and invalid, had been evacuated through it, only to be ambushed on the other side by Oto-nin and slaughtered. Neji had died that day, his corpse propped against the wall, a kunai through his throat and eyes gouged out.

Naruto's eyes deliberately avoided looking at the place where he had found his friend as he followed the closest thing he had to an aunt or cousin.

Once through, the two took to the roofs and made it to the Hokage Tower with little hassle until they tried to get in to see the Sandaime.

The secretary had stuttered and asked them to wait a moment after they had introduced themselves before scurrying off to interrupt a council meeting.

Rin had been confused and a little agitated, but Naruto knew what was happening.

It must have been several minutes later that a pair of ANBU appeared.

The man, from whom Naruto got a vague impression of recognition, bowed and 'asked' them to follow, while the woman with longish purple hair and a cat mask moved past the trio and out the window.

Naruto was asked to remain outside, so the boy settled into the chair across the hall from the Council room. Rin placed her backpack at his feet and carded a hand through the fringe of his long sunny hair; a sign of nervousness on her part.

"Wait here. I will be back soon." She murmured softly before following the male ANBU through the large double doors.

**(SPACE)**

It was about a half hour/forty-five minutes that Naruto spent staring almost unblinkingly at the door, ignoring the now unnerved ANBU guarding the Council room, when the female ANBU returned with Uchiha Sasuke, who appeared to have been roused from his bed, but was dressed in the blue and white outfit Naruto vaguely recalled from the raven's early genin years.

When he cause sight of the seated blonde, whose head was tilted only enough to be able to see the approaching the duo, he paused.

Sasuke slowed a little, finding the feral boy familiar, but unable to recall where he had seen the blonde before. For some reason, pity well up in his chest when he met the blue eyes.

The two boys' regard of one another was cut short by a sudden scream of pain and anguish.

In an instant, Naruto was on his feet and slamming the door open fast enough to make an ANBU Captain proud.

An instance's glance showed the Sandaime on his feet and shouting at a woman to his left, indignant outrage on behalf of Rin on the faces of others he vaguely recognised as clan heads, joyous scheming was written all over the faces of several civilians and quite a few others were watching with blank faces.

But Rin was collapsed on her knees in a puddle of black and white in the centre of the room, keening softly and her nails digging into the upper arms.

Ignoring everyone else in the room for the time being, Naruto darted forward, lifted Rin in an awkward bridal-style, and dashed from the room and down the hall to a smaller room he had passed earlier.

It turned out to be a smaller meeting room, most likely for ANBU.

Settling in a corner, on the ground and mostly hidden from view by a table and a heavy red curtain, Naruto curled up with Rin-san, petting her hair and crooning wordlessly, not bothering to ask what was wrong.

Her keening stopped after a few minutes, but she was still trembling and pale, her nails digging into her arms deep enough to draw blood, when one of the two ANBU guarding the council chamber doors came into the room, followed by a medic.

It took a few moments for the ANBU to locate the pair, drawn to the bright gold of Naruto's fine shaggy mane as the boy shifted in front of the now obviously catatonic Kunoichi.

As the two moved towards them, Naruto shifted again onto the balls of his feet, stance wider for balance, splayed fingertips resting lightly on the ground to support his upper body and his chest hovering over the floor like a predator in a its fight or flight response.

Some kind of cat, maybe?

Either way, the ANBU got more than he bargained for when the feral-looking and kinda disturbing kid in shorts and a loose tank-top threw himself at the black and white clad ninja (something most Shinobi had enough sense NOT to do) and proceeded to push both the ANBU and the medic-nin back to the middle of the room with a series of fluidic punches, kicks and flips before retreating back to his position in front of Rin.

The medic-nin sighed.

"I will inform the Hokage."

The ANBU nodded, reluctant for a second clash as he rubbed several scratches left along his upper arms where Naruto had scored a hit with his now decently lengthened red-varnished nails.

Naruto, still crouched back in front of Rin, watched the ANBU cautiously. He knew it was iffy at best that they wanted to harm either himself or Rin, after all, she _was_ an Uchiha female, but he didn't want to be treated like a useless kid and he _was _a traumatized child who had spent last three years in isolation with only Rin for company, so he figured that was enough reason to be a little aggressive and possessive.

A few minutes later, the medic-nin returned with Sarutobi and two of the elders, including the woman whom the old man had been yelling at.

Naruto may have been a particularly dense child the first time around, but he was more than capable of logic this time; the council members to show anger directed that anger towards the old woman, so she must have been to one to give Rin a mental and emotional breakdown.

The blonde immediately went back into his ready stance/crouch and growled.

Glaring, Naruto felt the minute fluctuations in his eyes that said they had turned red and slit-pupiled when she gave him a look of absolute hate and revulsion.

Naruto crouched down lower in preparation to jump at the horrible old woman, but Rin beat him to the punch. Literally.

Naruto backed down and stared in surprise when Rin dashed past him, crash-tackled the old woman and began punching and kicking the woman, screaming incoherent words at her.

It took the confused blonde a moment to realise what she was screeching almost indistinguishably at the woman.

"--HOW DARE YOU LOOK AT HIM LIKE THAT YOU (#)!& & COW!--"

Naruto blinked and cocked his head to the side, curious and thoroughly baffled, as Rin was dragged off the councilwoman, shrieking, kicking and biting, by no less than five ANBU and Sarutobi himself.

The blonde caught sight of a needle heading for the dark-haired woman and lunged across the flailing bodies to tackle the medic-nin. The two crashed to the ground and the needle went flying.

Naruto, his adrenaline now pumping and endorphins flooding his system, fought tooth and nail against the growing number of ANBU with a grin on his face, slipping like an eel from the grasps of anyone who got a hold on him. Now on the other side of the room, Rin-san was beating the crap out of the councilwoman whilst four ANBU tried to pull her off said woman.

The Sandaime, by this point, was standing by the wall with several Clan Heads, a long-suffering look on his face. The Clan Heads were looking thoroughly amused.

Sasuke was standing by the door, gobsmacked, as Naruto sent a particularly unlucky ANBU flying past the boy with a double-kick to the chest.

Momentarily distracted by a Captain crash tackling him, Naruto noticed, too late, the cloud of blue gas obscuring the room.

There was a moment of drowsiness, then nothing.

* * *

Kinda short but the ball will start rolling again next chapter when he goes in fo the exam.

Pleez reviw.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing recognised as belonging to someone else.**

* * *

Naruto woke up about a half-hour later, sprawled across a lounge chair in the Hokage's office with his fraying blanket thrown over him.

Cracking an eye open, he found Rin standing at attention before the desk where Sarutobi was speaking to her softly.

She looked drawn and miserable, her eyes hooded and hands limp by her sides. What really got to the blonde was that she was hiding her face behind her hair; something she only did when she wanted to be left alone.

It took a few moments of orientation to realise his head was nestled on a cushion leaning against someone's legs.

The person absently petting his hair smelt strongly of dogs, so he assumed it was the Inuzuka Matriarch Tsume, Kiba's mother. A slight panting to his left denoted the position of the woman's one-eyed dog.

Rin glanced at him and saw that he was awake.

She straightened and interrupted the old Hokage's soft words. "If I may, Lord Hokage, it has been a long and stressful night and is, indeed, nearly dawn. Since my charge is now awake, I ask permission to withdraw until we have had sufficient time to rest."

Naruto felt the woman's hand pause in surprise and the Hokage glanced at him before nodding.

"I would like both of you to return here at 14:00 hours later today for further debriefing and to assess Naruto-kun's skills."

Rin-san bowed. "Hai Hokage-sama."

Naruto kicked off the blankets, stood and bowed to the feral-looking clanswoman. "I thank you for the care you have shown me, Inuzuka-sama."

Inuzuka appeared surprised by both his formal language and by his soft monotone, slightly scratchy from disuse. But still she smiled. "You are welcome Uzumaki-san. Feel free to seek me out if you have any questions you don't feel comfortable asking people close to you. I have a son your age and I know how he thinks."

Naruto smiled slightly. "Kiba-kun."

There was no uncertainty in his voice.

Tsume smiled at the blonde child she had last seen years ago, hooked up to innumerable machines and looking oh-so-fragile in the many white bandages covering his small body.

"Yes. Kiba." She agreed softly after the retreating boy.

(**space)**

Naruto woke to a tangle of limbs, sheets and snaking black hair.

Again.

Rin did this sometimes, and after the night several evenings before, he wasn't surprised.

The blonde sighed and gently disentangled himself from the woman, knowing she'd have half-roused enough to know what was happening, and left the room to pad quietly downstairs.

The two had moved into a house in the Uchiha district, on the far side from where she had lived with her widowed mother.

Rin had been debriefed, sent to counselling and temporarily demoted back to elite Jounin at her request. She was now trying to get the Uchiha's affairs in order and scouring the compound for whatever had set Itachi off.

Naruto knew, but wasn't saying anything. He wasn't stupid and Rin was a highly intelligent Kunoichi; she'd figure it out.

Naruto, however, was declared easily Jounin-level. But due to technicalities (and the ingrates on the civilian council), he couldn't technically be called a Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato until he took the genin exam and earn the right to call himself as such.

So he would do so.

Ten minutes later, the blonde was out the door and walking over the crisp morning grass and through the remnants of pre-dawn mist, a small pack with his schooling necessities in hand.

Reaching the gate to the compound, he caught a glimpse of the other Uchiha ahead.

Feeling no need to hurry, Naruto continued his rolling pace to the Academy building where he paused.

Iruka, Udon and Ebisu had died when the building collapsed as they tried to get students out.

He blinked once and continued on to the office.

**(space)**

Naruto could barely look at Iruka as he followed the young teacher into the classroom of screaming pre-teens.

As soon as the brown-haired Chuunin entered, there was dead silence before they broke into whispers as Naruto followed and stood at the front of the room.

"Alright, class." Iruka began. "As you can see, we have a new arrival. He has just returned from a four-year trip outside the village, so if he has any problems with the work, I encourage you the assist him. So give a hearty welcome back to Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto idly watched a moth flutter across the silent room.

He smiled slightly.

"Anyone would think you were surprised that I'm back."

His smile morphed into a smirk.

"…Dattebayo."

Chaos.

* * *

Short but I'm gonn get into it in more depth next chapter.

Reviews are appriciated.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I own nothing recognised as belonging to someone else._

Sorry about the wait. Between work, funeral and near-chronic depression, I haven't been up to writing much. I hope to update my other stories soon, but don't be surprised if I don't.

* * *

Naruto never fully appreciated Sasuke and Neji's complete and utter terror in regards to fangirls until he began to accidentally culminate his own in his mid-twenties after he joined ANBU. Neji had had to sit him down and explain to him exactly why those ANBU kunoichi had attempted to jump him in the locker room showers.

As it was, it took Iruka nearly ten minutes to settle the class (more specifically the girls) and another five to coax Naruto down off the ceiling were he had fled when the fangirls made their dash towards him.

It was decided the Naruto would sit in the front corner next to the door with Shino beside him and Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru in the row behind him. Hinata, the only girl not to lunge for him, was seated and the end of his row, tapping her fingers together and blushing.

The blonde resolved to find out what, exactly, had his whole class in abject awe of him.

Class was decidedly odd for Naruto, having learnt nearly everything the class was taught at some point or another. Taijutsu was merely a performing of basic kata, followed by weapons practice which was, basically, target practice with single kunai and shuriken. By the time history rolled around in the afternoon, Naruto was seriously considering swapping with a kage bunshin.

It was nearing three-thirty when Iruka informed the class that it was time for them to choose a specialty if they wanted to. The first time around, Naruto had been off chasing some prank or another and hadn't known about the specialty classes until it was too late to sign up for anything.

He also had a sneaking suspicion they would have claimed they were full even if he had turned up.

So Naruto, having practically attached himself to Iruka-sensei's side, trudged down to the seminar room with the rest of the class and looked around at the various class stalls.

As the blonde had expected, most of the boys made a bee-line for the weapon-training stalls. The drugs and poisons stall was amongst the most popular, as was the advance survival training stall.

Naruto, for his part, wandered disinterestedly through the mass of students and stalls. Students could choose up to three classes, but the blonde doubted he would even choose one.

The blond had just about decided that there was nothing offered that he hadn't already learnt or he saw little point in when he noticed the elegant woman a little apart from the other stalls.

Stopping a ways away, Naruto observed the woman, unable to place her profession, but certain that there was a uniform-like way that she was dressed in her subdued but still expensive kimono. Her black hair was styled into an elaborate knot with equally intricate combs and hairpins.

After a half-minute or so, Naruto moved closer, curious about the calm, peaceful air the woman had, despite not having many, if any, of the academy students sign up for whatever course she was offering. As he moved, he realised that she was, in fact, likely towards the end of her forties, rather than in her late twenties as the blonde assumed.

She was kneeling in a very proper fashion behind the low table, obviously having been trained o sit just so for hours. Next he noticed that the tablecloth was carefully painted silk, very expensive, and the forest green tea set was high-quality china. Indeed, everything in the stall was of the highest quality, but not overtly so.

Realising he was genuinely interested in this woman in her casually expensive stall, he wandered forward and gracefully knelt opposite the woman on the embroidered silk cushion, watching attentively as woman gracefully set down her green tea cup and inquired if he would like some tea.

Tilting his head, Naruto regarded the woman a moment before saying, "If it would not be too much of a bother for you, Okaa-san."

The woman merely smiled and prepared some tea for him.

As she made the tea, the blonde was again drawn in by her graceful movements. It was only as she set the teacup before him that he realise that she, too, had been watching him.

He took a sip of tea, noting that it was also of good quality and well made, before setting it down so he could give his full attention to the woman.

"What class is it that you are offering, Okaasan?" Naruto inquired when it became apparent that she was waiting for him to initiate the conversation.

There was a slight shift in her demeanour that she was unhappy or disappointed by the question. "I offer not merely classes, but full apprenticeships for the art of being a Geisha."

Naruto blinked and tried to recall what he knew of Geisha.

Which was very little.

He knew they were almost always women, who were trained to be companions to rich men and women. They lived in a small district in the more expensive area of residential Konohagakure. They wore white face make-up sometimes. They were excessively polite and, when he was young the first time around, they didn't mind when he hid from the mobs in their district's garden. One of the matrons had even brought him in to stay the night on a pallet in the kitchen sometimes.

Blinking again, he refocused on the woman who was demurely sipping her tea. "What does this apprenticeship entail?"

This time she gave him a startlingly beautiful real smile "The apprenticeship goes through three stages before one earns the right to become a Geisha. Throughout the first two stages of the apprenticeship, and, more often than not, the third, the apprentice will live in the house of her matron, called an okiya, within the Geisha district, called Hanamachi or 'flower towns'. After one reaches Geisha, one many live wherever one wishes."

She paused to sip her tea before continuing. "The first stage of apprenticeship is called Shikomi. The duties of a Shikomi include maid work and is designed to make or break the new apprentices. The youngest Shikomi, or the most junior, is often called upon to wait up for the senior Geisha late into the night and early morning before being able to retire themselves. During this stage of training, the shikomi will also go to classes at the hanamachi's geisha school. This stage exists to accustom the apprentices to the traditional dialect, traditions and dress of the karyūkai. That is to say, the 'flower and willow world' which is explained in greater detail should you choose to accept the apprenticeship." She added at Naruto's curious look.

As she continued, the Geisha went about making more tea for the two of them, and a third for Hyuuga Hinata, who had appeared sometime during the Geisha's explanation of living arrangements. Naruto had been so focused on what the Geisha was saying that he hadn't noticed when she knelt beside him.

Hinata appeared to be just as enthralled by the elegant woman as he was.

"To reach the second stage, one must show a proficiency in the Geisha arts and pass a difficult dance exam. Should one pass, they will be promoted to the status of Minarai. Minarai are relieved of their housekeeping duties so they may focus on training in the field. Although minarai attend _ozashiki_, meaning banquets in which guests are attended by geisha, they do not participate at an advanced level. Their kimono, more elaborate than a maiko's, are intended to do the talking for them. Minarai can be hired for parties, but are usually uninvited, though welcomed, guests at parties that their mentor, referred to as onee-san, attends. They charge one third the hanadai(1) . Minarai generally work with a particular tea house, called a minarai-jaya, learning from the proprietress of the establishment. The techniques learnt at the minarai-jaya are not taught in school as skills such as conversation and gaming can only be absorbed through practice. This stage lasts only about a month or so."

Despite the end of school bell having rung several minutes before and many of the students having left, the two ninjas-in-training were attentively listening to the Geisha's peaceful and soothing voice.

"The third stage is the most famous stage, called Maiko, meaning literally 'dance child', and this stage can last for years. Maiko learn from their senior geisha mentor and follow them around to all their engagements. The onee-san/imouto-san relationship is important. Since the onee-san teaches her maiko everything about _working_ in the hanamachi, her teaching is vital. She will teach them proper ways of serving tea, playing shamisen(2), and dancing, casual conversation and more. The onee-san will even help pick the maiko's new professional name with kanji or symbols related to their own name. Regional variations exist, as the han'gyoku of Iwa are known for being sassy and the Kumo maiko are known for being demure."

The Geisha was inwardly delighted by the close focus and blantant interest the boy was showing and the longing awe of the Hyuuga girl. While it was highly unusual for a boy to show an interest, she could tell he was someone who would follow through with anything he set out to do. With his narrow features and long-lashed brilliantly blue eyes, he would even be able to pass off as an exotically beautiful girl. The Hyuuga girl, however, was the epitome of what a Geisha looked for in her apprentices. She was graceful, demure, of doll-like beauty and had the natural talent to go far as a Geisha.

The woman smiled as she finished her tea. She hadn't really held much hope of finding anyone interested in being a Geisha apprentice at the Ninja Academy, what with all those nasty rumors of Geisha being prostitutes going around, but here were two who were showing an avid interest before her.

"It appears that classes are over." The two ninja-in-training jumped and looked around, only to find that the students were all gone, leaving only Iruka-sensei and the other stalls, which were in the process of packing. The Geisha was quietly flattered that the children had been so wrapped up in her to the exclusion of everything else.

Reaching beneath the table, the Geisha pulled out two invitation cards and two small, leather-bound books. "Since we do not offer merely classes, but rather a contract-bound apprenticeship, we offer those interested this book on the Geisha lifestyle and training to those interested, as well as these invitations. These invitations are for this weekend, whereby those interested may come and spend their weekend as a minarai to see if they would truly like the lifestyle. However, as ninja, you would have to take your Geisha classes both before and after your Academy classes, as well as on weekends. Once you make genin, classes will also be arranged around your team hours and missions. This will be easier if you are living in the okiya. Negotiations are allowed for members of clans for clan business," she added for Hinata's benefit, "but the contract lasts until you reach the end of your Maiko period, which can last until you are twenty-one at the latest."

She handed over the books and invitations with a smile. "The time in upon the cards. Just go to the gate and ask for Kino Michiko."

Both ninja-in-training took the offered items, stood and bowed. "Arigato, Okaa-san. Ja ne."

Michiko sighed as she watched the children run off to retrieve their school things. She really hoped they came.

*****

Later that night, Naruto lay on his bed, turning the invitation over in his hands.

Being a Geisha certainly sounded interesting, not to mention how useful it would be in undercover missions.

He had been weighing the pros and cons since he had read the small book that detailed Geisha training, the purposes of make-up, hairstyles, kimonos, hanzashi(3), the purpose of Geisha, History of Geisha, relashionships between Geisha and Danna(4) and the differences between Geisha, Oiran and prostitutes.

Mostly he was worried about Rin-san and how she would feel if they were suddenly no longer together.

Sighing, Naruto decided that he would ponder it tomorrow and went to make dinner for himself and Rin-san.

* * *

(1) Hanadai=fee

(2) Shamisen=a three-stringed instrument similar to an acoustic guitar or banjo with silk or nylon strings.

(3) Hanzashi= elaborate haircombs and hairpins

(4) Danna=patron


End file.
